To Kill An Angel
by Miss Light Bright
Summary: A lot of people say that angels aren't good. Angels were only put on this earth to slaughter the innocent and feast on the dead. Some say it's the apocalypse, some say the angels just like killing... Loki doesn't care what anyone says, he just wants them all dead. (In which Loki hates angels and the last thing he would want to do is fall in love with one!) Tony/Loki *On Hiatus*
1. Chapter 1

_It is not known precisely where angels dwell — whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode. ~Voltaire_

* * *

He still remembers when they first saw an angel. His mother had been looking out the window, waiting for the meteor shower. He was playing with his toys in the far end of the room under the warm glow of the corner lamp. She'd gasped softly, startling him, and he jumped to his feet, racing to her side. "Did the shower start?"

She didn't reply but instead stared blankly out into the shadowy night, so he followed her gaze. His heart jolted. There in the trees on the edge of their yard was a man watching them… and he had wings.

* * *

Loki gasps as he hits the ground and a shooting pain twists its way up through his side and into his limbs. He wants to lie there, to quit, but he forces himself to move, knowing that he can't stay down for long. This match has to go in his favor or he will never be taken seriously.

Groaning, he rolls himself onto his knees and force himself upwards to face his opponent, his older brother Thor, as he spits blood out onto the dirt below. His ears are ringing but he still can hear the onlookers chanting his name, egging him on, and damn, does it feel good. This isn't all just for glory, though; He needs to prove himself tonight and then maybe he'll will finally get to leave these stupid fences.

Thor grins at him but he doesn't look good. He has a gash on his cheek covered in blood and it's starting to form a bruise under his left eye. At least Loki don't have an injury yet, just the stinging in his side from a well-aimed kick. "You just going to stand there, Loki?" Thor taunts him and he gestures for Loki to make the first move.

Loki glances quickly down at the ground, spotting his knife a few feet away from him near the edge of the crowd that encircles them, and he wonders if he'll have enough time to grab it. He'll have no chance against Thor if Thor gets his blade at him. Thor twirls his knife, laughing with the crowd as if they know he'll win. _Fuck it._

For a split second, Thor turns his attention onto the crowd and that's when Loki runs for it. He snatches up the knife, breathing hard, and he turns just in time to dodge the stab of Thor's blade. The crowd roars as he spins away and skids to a stop, throwing a shower of fresh dust into the circle. "You aren't quick enough," he snarls at him with a smile of his own. The girls behind him chortle with laughter.

"We'll see about that," Thor snaps back, brushing his sweat-slicked blond hair from his face.

They begin to circle each other. Loki narrows his eyes, trying to figure out the best way to attack. If he chose to attack first, he may be making himself vulnerable but if Thor attacks first, Loki might be overpowered.

"Why don't you give up now? Father's never going to change his mind," Thor says it like a taunt but Loki can see the worry in his eyes. Thor knows how determined he is; he knows how far Loki will go to get a chance to kill one of those monsters.

Loki's lips quirk upwards into a smile as they continue to circle each other. "Yeah, we'll see about that." Loki's sure he could win and maybe then his father will finally allow him to join the Hunter's ranks.

Loki scans his position, still calculating, but he's having a hard time reading him. Thor's too unpredictable. He tense his muscles, preparing to make his move when there's a shift of something behind them, just outside the fence in the woods. They all freeze, going completely silent. "Did you hear that?" Loki hisses to Thor as his stomach drops with instinctive panic. He know what he heard; He heard wings. Loki unconsciously touches the gruesome scar that runs along the corner of his eye to the bridge of his nose.

"Angels," Thor whispers back, eyes wide.

Some of the crowd have already slipped away but there are those like Loki and Thor that are paralyzed with fear. There has only been one time that an angel had shown up at the fences of their small town and the evidence for it was right on Loki's face. He'd almost died.

"Everyone get out of here," Loki urges the crowd, turning to face those that are left. Then he turns to Thor. "We have to warn Father."

Thor nods. "He'll know what to do." He turns and bursts into a run before Loki can say another word, disappearing into the depths of the scrambling crowd. The whispers of wings has already spread like wildfire through the people and they were heading for safety, preparing for the worst. There are only a few ways to protect yourself from the angels, and if you are caught unprepared you're as good as dead.

He takes off after Thor, all exhaustion lost in the heat of the moment, and he surges his energy in an effort to run faster in the direction of the Hunter's Hall. Loki's heart stutters with fear as they sprint across their short village along the dirt roads.

"Father!" Thor yells over the crowd. The boys, some just barely sixteen, are shrugging on guns filled with blessed silver bullets, pocketing vials of holy water, and sheathing blades that were made from the hands of monks. It's funny that things like these were the key to killing an angel. "Father!" he cries again.

Their father, Odin Borson, the leader of their pathetic Hunter army, is standing at the edge of the door of the Hunter's Hall, shoving guns into each man's hands. When he hears Thor's call, he turns sharply and his angry gaze spots Loki immediately. "What is your brother doing here?" he shouts at Thor, his glare an obvious threat.

Thor opens his mouth to speak but Loki cuts him off, walking in front him to his father. "Let me go on the hunt."

"No," he says instantly, his blue eyes flashing dangerously.

"I'm not a kid anymore." _And he's actually older than some of the boys going out today._ "I'm ready."

He shoves a gun at Thor. "Get in formation." Thor doesn't refuse his order, just casts Loki an apologetic glance before jogging away to the gate. His father turns back to him. "I don't have time for this, Loki. Get back to the house."

"No." Loki says it as evenly as he can. "You know I can do it."

"I know that you'll get yourself killed!" he snaps.

"Just like you got _her _killed?"

Odin's slap comes instantly and Loki's shocked into silence from the stinging on the curve of his cheek. But he deserve it, Loki knows he does. "Father…" He says brokenly.

Odin wraps a rough hand around the base of Loki's neck and forces him to move in the direction of the Hunter's Hall, hissing, "You are going to stay inside, you understand me?" The pressure on his neck is too tight for him to even reply but Odin doesn't expect him to. He expects him to stay quiet.

The inside of the one-story Hunter's Hall is almost cleared out, so there is no one to stop Odin from throwing open the nearest closet and shoving Loki inside, finally letting go of his windpipe. Loki wheezes as he hits the wall but turns just in time to watch his father close the door behind him, plunging the tiny space into darkness. "Let me out!" Loki screams in a bout of rising panic, his voice rough with the strain. He throws himself at the door and the whole thing shudders.

The lock clicks. "You'll be safe in there," Odin says and then he's gone. Loki hears the last of the men follow him out.

Loki lets the tears pour from his eyes now, because there's no one here to know. _I fucking hate him. _The first time in years, there's a possibility that there's an actual angel outside their gates and Loki won't even get to try to kill it. He should be the one who drives the blade into the angel's heart.

* * *

An eternity has passed, or so it seems, when Loki finally hears the lock click. His head snaps upward at the sound and he open his eyes in time to be blinded by the light streaming through the newly opened door. "Thor?" he calls, shielding his eyes with his hand.

No reply.

In fact, it's entirely too quiet beyond the door. Too empty.

He scrambles to his feet and rushes from the closet before it can close and lock him in again. "Hello?" he whispers, turning in all directions.

No one.

Loki stills just as a creeping sensation spiders its way up his spine. It's as if there's someone watching him. He turns slowly in the direction of the nearest window only to find no one there, but oddly the sensation is gone.

Grabbing a gun, he makes his way slowly to the door. _What if something did happen? What if an angel had somehow gotten its way into our village? _Loki feels a hot surge of anger and he knows what he has to do. _I have to kill the beast._

Loki edges to the door and slowly turns the handle, inching the door open without a sound. He lets his gun lead him through the opening and into the shadows beneath the setting sun. Pacing on light feet, he makes his way around the brick building, looking for any sign of disturbance.

Something creaks behind him and he gasps, whirling to point his gun in that direction. The clearing behind him is empty but yet that unsettling sensation had returned. He scans all around him and up above. He's never seen angel fly, so he's not really sure what to expect.

Loki stays still for a few minutes, waiting. Then, behind him, a twig snaps. Loki whirls and tightens his fingers, ready to the pull trigger when he comes face-to-face with Thor. "Holy shit, Loki!" Thor cries, throwing his hands up to block his body from his gun.

"Thor, what are you doing here?" Loki rushes to say, quickly tucking the gun down to point at the dirt.

"Everyone's on their way back. It was a false alarm. But seriously, what are you doing with a gun?"

"False alarm," Loki repeats. It doesn't seem right. The wings they heard in the trees earlier… Those weren't just any bird's wings… were they?

The disbelief must've shown in his face because Thor lays a heavy hand on his shoulder, stooping to get a better look at his face. "Yes, it was an eagle or something out the woods… Now tell me where you got the gun."

Loki blinks rapidly, trying to chase away his confusion. "I found it laying out in the Hunter's Hall."

"Those guns are locked away, at least they're supposed to be," Thor says with a frown. But he doesn't dwell on it and instead slides the gun out of Loki's hands and puts the safety back on. "You better get out of here before Father sees."

He didn't have to be told twice. "Thanks," Loki mumbles quickly and then he's walking away. All the way down the narrow alleyway, Loki feels Thor watching me. In this way, he's a lot like Odin: ever watchful and ever worried.

_A false alarm,_ Loki thinks with a scoff. There had been too many false alarms for their sad little colony in the middle of nowhere. He brushes his fingers along his scar again, trying to calm his nerves. He could have sworn that this time was different.

He makes his way up an old, cracked road that leads to his decaying house. It's a weathered Colonial home falling apart from years without upkeep. The grass is growing long and shaggy and it's dry and slightly dead from the sweltering summer heat. Loki walks briskly through a broken down path in the weeds to his front door.

Inside, he lights a candle and takes it with him to the sitting room. His eyes skim over the rug, straining to ignore the blood stain that covers most of the floor, and he instead heads for the window. He sets the candle aside, safely on the end table, and then moves to open the window.

The second Loki pulls back the curtains, the sensation overwhelms him again. Something is watching him. He can't see where, though; the candle is reflecting onto the window, so he quickly blows it out, sinking the room into a fearful darkness, and waits.

At first, Loki doesn't see anything. The woods beyond the high fence looks the same as always. But after a single blink, a figure appears in the trees overlooking his home. The shadowy figure doesn't move but neither does he, because Loki is paralyzed by the silhouette of wings.

* * *

**So I'm not so sure about this story yet. I'm unsure if there will be a lot of interest in this type of story, so I will see what kinds of reactions I get before I continue! Thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

Loki's frozen but a million thoughts run through him at once. What is it that Father always says? _Blood blessed by these words will banish an angel…_

Keeping his eyes on the angel, Loki backs slowly from the window and takes slow calculated steps towards Father's small collection of knives on the mantle of the fireplace. The house already has symbols carved over every doorway to ward against angels, but that might not be enough.

He's on the other side of the room now and yet, the angel still has not moved, not even as Loki reaches out for one of the larger knives, barely visible in the darkness. The handle is cold and solid and it scrapes across the brick as he slides it toward himself.

The angel shifts, just a twitch of its wings, and Loki freezes, holding his breath. His palm is sweaty on the knife, halfway off the mantel, and his fingers shake. _Please, please don't move, _Loki silently pleads with the angel.

Loki wait a beat longer and then pulls the knife to his side in a flash. The angel's wings spread in response; it's like it's warning Loki. He takes the knife and slices a long cut along his palm and the blood spills instantly, trickling down his forearm. Loki gasps but opens his mouth, ready to say the blessed prayer, but suddenly he can't remember the words. Panicked, Loki glances up at the angel.

It's still in the trees but it's crouched down, almost blending into the branches. It looks like it will take flight.

"Loki?"

The sudden voice has him spinning and he's met with the light of a candle. Loki blinks rapidly and acts quickly, yanking the candle from Thor's grasp and blowing it out. "Loki, what's going on?"

"What's the prayer, Thor? What are the words?" Loki urges. But as he turns to look back at the angel, his eyes widen in disbelief. "It's gone!"

Thor grabs his arm, keeping him from going any closer to the window. "What are you talking about?"

"There was an angel out there!" Loki exclaims, showing him his bloody palm. It looks black in the darkness.

"Holy…" Thor says when he sees all the blood. He takes the knife and candle out of Loki's hands and discards them on the couch. "Put pressure on that," he says, pulling his gun seemingly out of nowhere. He takes slow steps away from his brother to the window and Loki watches, biting back pain as he pressurizes his small wound.

A minute passes and Thor returns to his side. "Are you sure you saw something?"

"It was there," Loki growls out. "I know what I saw."

Thor swipes a match and relights his candle. In the flickering light he looks exhausted and afraid; it makes him look far older than nineteen. "Well if you did see something, it's not there now." He pockets his gun and scoops up Loki's hand and smears his hand across the blood. Thor uses Loki's blood like paint and draws a symbol on the window pane, whispering the Latin words that Loki had forgotten. Even with him saying them now, there is no way Loki'll remember that.

"We have to tell Father what I saw," Loki says when he finishes.

"I'll tell him," Thor says, shearing off a strip of cloth from a blanket with his knife. Thor turns and hands it to him. "I'll say I saw it."

Loki takes the cloth and winds it slowly around his cut. "You believe me?" Loki asks this because he used to have nightmares. About Mother. About angels.

Thor looks at him and his eyes go soft. "Of course I do. But I'll tell Father I saw it," he insists again.

Loki know what he's trying to protect him from: Father's constant ability to over-worry. Odin'll lock him in a closet again with all sorts of symbols on the door. Thor's giving him a chance to be a part of this hunt. "Thank you," Loki whispers.

"Now go to sleep," Thor replies, pushing at his head playfully.

Laughing, Loki sits down on the couch. They both know Loki won't actually sleep, but he'll have to pretend when Father gets there. Like always, Loki doesn't want to spend another long night in the closet.

* * *

Turns out Loki actually did fall asleep, because he wakes to the soft sound of Thor's voice echoing from the kitchen. The sitting room is pitch black because Thor had taken the candle into the other room with him.

"And you're sure of this?" Odin says lowly.

"Yes," Thor hisses back. "I saw it. In the trees out there."

"And where was your brother when this happened?"

"I don't know. Not at home," Thor lies fluidly. "We have to hunt for this thing."

There's a pause and Father sighs heavily. "Looks like it. But you're staying here, with your brother." Thor is silent so Father continues, "Watch out for him, you hear? Make sure he does his duties tomorrow, no matter what."

"I got it, Father," Thor answers quietly. "I'll watch him."

Loki close his eyes, feeling frustrated once again. Thor isn't going to let him out of his sight now.

* * *

He's roused awake by Thor shaking his shoulder and Loki swats at his hand, mumbling for him to leave him alone. "You need to get up," Thor sighs. "We need to get to work."

Loki opens his eyes specifically glare at him. He hates when Thor calls their chores 'work.' To him, work still symbolizes jobs from the old days like accounting or carpeting. Work should not mean washing the village's crusty old clothes on the side of the river. Or in Thor's case, babysitting annoying kids while everyone else did their own crappy chores.

"Just get up," Thor laughs, nudging him one more time before leaving the room.

It's dawn, so Loki stumbles off the couch and finds his way somehow into the bathroom. Next to the unusable sink is a large bucket of water. Loki dunks the cup into it and uses his cupful of water to wash off his face. Afterwards, he stares at his reflection in the mirror. He has incredibly dark hair in comparison to Thor's blond locks and his eyes are a much darker shade blue, edging on a dark shade of green. But what overwhelms his otherwise normal face is that awful scar. Its jagged edges prove how deep the cut went and how badly it healed. Father said it should have healed better than this. It's strange.

Loki turns away and leaves his reflection behind. But he does takes the time to grab a blessed blade and slips it into his boot.

Thor and Loki slowly walk through the small village along the edge of the fence. The chain-link fence has dozens of symbols carved into each post, protecting them from an angel invasion. "So you'll be okay out here by yourself, right?" Thor asks as they reach the river. Already a few of the people are in formation, washing the clothes with home-made soap in the riverbank.

"I'll be fine," Loki says, looking up his brother's worried frown. Loki nudges him. "Really. As long as Father is looking for the thing, it's fine. He's out right now, right?"

Thor nods. "If anyone can catch the angel, it's Father."

Loki's not so sure about that but he nods. "Well, I better get to it." Even as Loki says these words, he winces. Loki hates laundry beyond anything else; maybe more so than angels.

Thor smiles sympathetically. "I'll come pick you up afterwards, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Loki gives him a wave and he leaves him to join the others at the water. His job in this production line is to rinse the clothes.

Swishing a shirt back and forth in the water, Loki lets his mind wander. He's 100 percent positive that there is an actual angel out there. Is Father taking this as seriously as he said he would? It makes him feel antsy that no one may be worried as he is. Loki bites his lip, frowning as he pulls the cloth from the river and wrings it out with more strength than necessary. He sighs loudly and dumps the shirt into the bucket to be hung up on the ropes.

His sigh has the others looking at him, but Loki ignores them, moving on to the next shirt. For a while the familiar rhythm of washing clothes lulls him away from his thoughts of angels and his mind flits around aimlessly. That is, until a movement in the trees causes him to freeze.

"Did you see that?" Loki asks. The few around him fall into silence, following his gaze into the swaying branches. All that is beyond the fence is shadows and Loki doesn't see anything else.

Penelope, a 40-something childless widow, frowns and scoffs. "He's lying. Go back to work."

Loki shoots a glare at her but she has already turned her attention faithfully back onto soaping a weathered red blouse. Glancing back at the trees, Loki grows wary. There has to be something out there. And what if it's the same thing that attacked Mom? What if we don't kill it in time? These questions haunt him.

"I'll be back," Loki announces suddenly, hopping to his feet and dropping a sopping wet pair of pants into the bucket. He don't even wait for their reactions, he just marches away.

Loki has to find out for himself what's out there, so he heads away from the river and towards a piece of the fence that is left unseen behind the first of the houses boxed into the gated village. Loki spots Thor and his group of kids at the top of the hill but he's busy playing a game of hopscotch with them. He won't even notice he's gone.

Slipping behind the first house, Loki is met with the steady clink of the wind on the metal fence. Back here, away from everyone else, he suddenly feels afraid. Cautiously he steps forward, squinting at the trees, searching for a figure. "Where are you?"

Loki almost expects the angel to show itself but nothing moves except the shaking leaves. He reaches down into his boot and brushes the blessed blade. It's cold and solid in his shaking fingers.

Breathing in unevenly, Loki glances over his shoulder. Behind him is the silence of the empty house. _Okay, I can do this. I can just take a peek and be back before anyone notices._ The guilt doesn't go away, though.

He goes to the fence and wraps his fingers into the chain, rattling the fence further while Loki hoists himself upwards. He makes the eight foot climb and finally he swings his feet over the top. For a second, he hesitates, suddenly feeling the familiar creeping sensation of someone watching him. But nonetheless, Loki pushes himself off the top of the fence.

When his feet hit the ground, instantly his heart pumps rapidly and Loki knows something is wrong. Something is out there, just waiting for him to wander a little closer. "You're here, aren't you?" Loki whispers, trying to appear threatening. He takes the knife from his boot and holds it out in front in him, trembling.

There's no answer and the feeling hasn't gone away, so Loki scans the trees, but the clinking of the fence is distracting. It sounds ominous.

When Loki takes his first step forward, the situation finally dawns on him. He's out there alone with only a knife. "Crap," Loki breathes.

A branch moves overhead and Loki gasps, jumping back a step. "Come any closer and I'll kill you!" Loki shouts, turning the knife so he can stab easily.

But then someone laughs. It cuts off just as quickly.

Loki freezes, frowning in disbelief. It sounded like a _boy's_ laugh.

"Alright… who's there?" Loki asks, resisting the urge to lower his knife. Angels don't _laugh._ "It's not funny, you know."

The branch stays still and there's no answer so Loki takes a few steps to the left to get a better look up into the tree. In the dark shadows of the tree is a guy but Loki can't see what he looks like. The only reassuring thing about the guy is that he has no wings. "What the hell are you doing up there?"

The guy lowers a hand from his mouth and reveals his grin. He thinks he's so damn funny! "I could have killed you! You shouldn't be outside the fence!" Loki says, irritated.

"Neither should you," the guy counters. He looks like a Cheshire cat by the way he crouches on the branch doing nothing but grinning.

Loki huffs. "Get down here."

"No, I don't wanna."

Loki stares at the guy in disbelief. People may not always believe what Loki have to say, they may think that he's cursed from the scar on his face, or they might even hate him for no apparent reason, but they never disobey him when he tells them what to do. His Father's the leader of the Hunters for cripe's sake!

"Who are you?" Loki asks, his suspicion renewing as he stares up at the figure.

The guy shifts and jumps down, landing in front of Loki. He looks unbothered by the fact that he'd just leapt off a branch that was considerably higher up than the fence. Standing, he smiles again and Loki finally gets a good look at him. He has chocolate brown hair with the eyes to match and his smile screams charisma. "You're Loki," he says, disregarding his question.

Loki's never seen him in the village. So he takes a step back, his heart thumping wildly. "Who are you?" Loki repeats.

The guy's smile disappears and a shadow passes over his eyes. "I'm the one who will kill you."

Loki sucks in a breath, drowning in terror, and he does the only thing he can think of. Loki slashes his knife at the boy in full force, aiming for his haunting eyes, but the boy disappears and reappears a few feet away, closer to the tree but this time with wings.

"Angel," Loki gasps out. Hate consumes him and Loki wants nothing more than to rip his throat out.

The angel laughs again but this laugh sounds forced. "You actually think you can hurt me?" He disappears and reappears in front of Loki, inches away. "You are amusing, Loki."

Loki screams with rage and thrusts the knife towards at his shoulder.

He catches Loki's arm in his grip easily, and looks at the knife tipped towards his plain black shirt. "A knife like that won't kill me, just stun me at best." He shoves him backwards and Loki hits the fence at full force, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

Luckily, Loki still has the knife in his hand and he forces himself upwards to face the angel. There's no chance against him, not at this rate, and the angel knows it too. On his face is a look of triumph, like it means the world to him to kill Loki. Loki's fingers twitch.

"It won't work, I already told you," the angel says, but his eyes are on the knife, his whole body tense. So maybe it _will _hurt him.

Loki lunges at him again and he catches him, encircling his large hands around Loki's skinny wrists to hold him still. His gaze on the knife switches back to Loki and he grins. "You can try it. Stab me anywhere you want and I'll prove to you how vulnerable you really are." He drops Loki's hands and takes a step back, beckoning him. "Come on."

He glares. This has to be a trap… or he's completely serious. Loki just can't tell.

"Come on, don't be shy. Be a good boy and stab me."

Loki grips the knife harder, realizing that he can't pass up this chance. Maybe if Loki stuns him, he can get over the fence before the angel can react.

He goes for it. There's no resistance as Loki plunges the knife into the angel's wing with as much hate as Loki can muster. The knife goes through the wing and the wound not only starts to bleed, but the feathers around it start to droop and turn from white to a diseased black.

Loki jumps back as the angel stumbles, visibly shocked by the damage on his wing. He grunts from the pain.

Quickly he gets away from him. If he's right, Loki has only seconds until the angel recovers. So Loki throws himself onto the edge of the fence and clambers over the top. When he drops down to the other side, he looks back. The angel hardly moved.

"What did you do to me?" he rasps. The look he gives Loki just then actually makes him feel _bad_ about stabbing him. So much pain in that expression.

The angel's figure disappears but he reappears only a few feet away, and he looks worse. His face is as white as a sheet and the blood is still flowing from beneath the knife. Then he collapses.

Sucking in a breath, Loki grabs the metal of the fence. Is he okay? Did Loki kill him? The thought of killing him almost feels wrong.

But the angel's already trying to struggle to his feet and from the new view of his wing, Loki can see that the blackness has grown along the majority of its span. Soon it will be completely black.

He glares at Loki one last time and disappears. This time, he stays gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki doesn't go back to the river but ends up back home. He doesn't know what to do. Did he actually hurt an angel? He should probably tell father what happened and maybe father and his men can track it easier now that it's injured.

Pacing the room, Loki continues to consider his options while he waits for Thor to show. Thor will no doubt notice his absence and Loki knows that he'll be in trouble once again. He doesn't care, though. Maybe Thor can help him decide what to do.

The door bangs open and Loki stops in his tracks when Thor storms in. He grabs Loki by the collar. "I told you to stay put!"

Loki lets his gaze flitter away, unable to look his brother in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

"What were you even doing?" Thor asks, giving Loki a shake. "One of the ladies said that you heard something in the trees and ran off! Did you go looking for it?"

Loki's eyes snap up and he brushes his black locks away from his eyes. "No, of course not!" Loki lies. He doesn't even know why he does it. Thor is the person he trusts the most in the world; he would understand.

"I don't know why you are lying to me," Thor says, his eyes narrowing. He can see right through Loki and his hand tightens on Loki's collar.

Again, Loki looks away from Thor and wonders why he just can't say it. He wants all angels dead but he almost wanted to look for the angel for himself. It was badly injured, so maybe it would take some time to heal. Maybe Loki could kill it himself.

Loki finally looks Thor squarely in the eyes, making his decision. "I thought I heard an angel and yes, I went to look for it. But I didn't find anything, okay? I just freaked myself out by standing too close to the fence."

Thor searches Loki's eyes and sighs deeply. "You can tell me anything, Loki, just remember that. No matter what it is." He finally let's go of Loki's collar, but watches attentively as Loki moves away. He knows that Loki is lying but he's allowing him his space.

"I'm tired. I'm going to rest a bit before I return to my chores," Loki says, looking away again and pacing quickly away. His guilt is heavy but he can't tell Thor yet. Not yet. He has to look into this himself.

* * *

Thor has a watchful eye on him at all times after that, so Loki doesn't get to sneak out until two nights later. Downstairs, Thor is discussing with father the latest search for the angel Loki had seen, but there hadn't been any progress. However, the Hunters are determined to go out for another hunt tonight and they are taking Thor with them.

It is well into the night when the two finally left the house, leaving Loki behind in the pitch black night, clutching his blankets around him. He's left with the decision to sneak out, or to stay safely snug in his bed but the mere thought of the injured angel has Loki up and out of his room.

After lacing up his shoes, Loki takes a backpack with him and he places inside a candle, some matches, a holy blade, holy water and a variety of other protective devices. He will be prepared for anything at this point.

He goes out the window because he does not want to risk anyone in the street seeing him, and he drops off the drain pipe into the soft dewy grass. It's a few hours until sunrise, so there's only so much time.

Yanking the backpack tighter to his shoulders, Loki begins his journey across the silent village, keeping to the edge of the fence, hidden in the shadows of houses and trees. The place where he had last seen the angel is on the opposite side of the village, so he tries his hardest to not get caught. He figures it won't be too hard if he just stays against the fence.

Soon, Loki comes upon the edge of the Hunter's Hall and he pauses, squinting his eyes at the silhouettes of men against the candle lit windows. There aren't many of them inside but enough to lead a small party into the hunt. For a moment, Loki wonders if he should just go home. There had been several hunts for angels in the last few days, searching for the angel. What makes Loki think he'll be any better at tracking it?

Loki bites his lip. But he knows where the angel was last seen and how badly injured it is. He has information that these men didn't.

With renewed motivation, Loki slips away from the building, staying low as he stalks through the darkness. When he reaches the river, he follows it to the place he had been before. When he reaches the place in the fence, he doesn't hesitate and hoists himself easily over the top.

On the other side, he freezes just as he did the last time he had been here. He does not sense anything, though; it's just quiet.

"Hey, angel guy?" Loki calls softly into the trees. His gaze flickers across the span of the forest. "Are you out there?"

The silence that follows after is a comfortable silence. In fact, Loki feels quite peaceful out here in the forest with nothing but moonlight to guide him.

Speaking of light, Loki remembers his candle and takes it from his bag, lighting it so that he can see much easier, but shields it from view of anyone who may be watching from the village. He wants to get away from the fence quickly, but first he has to check to see if the angel had left any sort of blood trail.

With the light of the candle, Loki spots blood in the grass where Loki had stabbed the angel, but there's nothing else. The angel had teleported away without a trace.

Looking back one more time at the village, Loki ducks into the trees, taking the light away from any watching eyes. With each step forward, Loki is further away from home than he's ever been before.

Loki walks and walks, keeping his eyes on the moon so that he would know the way home, but he begins to fear that even now he will have trouble finding the way back. "Maybe I should turn back," Loki whispers to himself.

"You should," a voice answers right back.

Loki spins and raises his candle, searching for the voice. There, up in a tree, is the angel crouching in the lowest branch just a few inches above Loki's head. The boy frowns at Loki but makes no move to come down. "And blow out that candle," the boy says. "Quickly." The angel's eyes dart up at the sky as if seeing something up there. His eyes are wide with terror.

Loki slowly lowers the candle but does not blow it out. Instead he stares at the angel. His wings are not visible but the boy is clearly ill. Sweat slicks his hair to his forehead and his face looks impossibly pale. "What is wrong with you?"

The angel's eyes snap to him sharply. "Put out the light. They're coming." His eyes dart into the trees.

Loki follows the angel's gaze and gasps when he sees the growing glow of flames. Those had to be torches at the hands of one of the Hunter's search parties. If they find Loki out here, he's dead meat!

Quickly, Loki blows out his candle, sending their clearing into darkness. He glances back at the angel's branch and he can still make out the outline of its figure. The angel will surely be caught if those men come through here!

"Aren't you going to disappear?" Loki hisses at the thing.

The angel sighs. "I can't." He says no more.

The light grows, so Loki grabs a hold onto the angel's branch and hoists himself forcefully up to the angel's side. The angel gasps in surprise but Loki says, "They're going to catch you, you know."

"Either way I'll die now," the angel replies, sounding incredibly angry. "Now get out of my tree."

"No," Loki says, looking at the angel in the darkness. He can't make out what kind of face the angel might be making.

They both fall silent as the torch light becomes bright and voices fill the clearing. Loki watches in amazement as the angel instantly raises a hand, whispering in a language he does not know and then for a few seconds a clear shield appears around them.

The men spill into the clearing, some looking into the sky and the trees, others looking at ground level. All of them sport some sort of angel-killing device. Loki tenses as one looked directly at them, but his eyes slide away just as quickly, not seeing them.

It was the angel's shield that protected them, Loki realizes, looking back at the boy. Loki stills. The angel's face is screwed up in intense pain but he doesn't drop the shield around them. He continues to whisper with his hand outstretched. His hand shakes.

A few minutes more and the men finally pass, heading down further into the forest, plunging them back into darkness. The angel's whispering stops and his hand drops to his side. For a second, Loki thinks the angel will be okay but then it sways once and… he falls right out of the tree, landing with a sickly thud.

"Crap!" Loki says, jumping down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Just let me die in peace," the angel moans.

"Mr. Angel, you aren't allowed to die until I kill you personally, alright?" Loki relights his candle, his heart pumping wildly for some reason. The thought of this creature dying makes him feel incredibly sick.

The angel laughs. "My name's Tony, not Mr. Angel." He winces as the candle's light is shined on him. He rolls onto his side. "Besides, I'm going to die whether you like it or not. If not by you, it will be at my father's hand."

Loki peers at Tony curiously. What is it that the angel was blabbering about? He truly looks sick at closer inspection and Loki wonders what he could do to help. "Angels aren't named Tony," Loki finds himself saying.

Tony flashes him a pained grin. "They're not. They're named Anthony but sometimes they prefer other names like Tony."

Loki continues to stare at him and eventually Tony's grin drops away as the pain returns to him. He closes his eyes and breathes raggedly into the dirt. Tony has such long eye lashes. "Did I do this to you?"

Tony's glare paralyzes Loki. "Of course you did, you idiot! Whose knife is lodged into my wing?"

"It's still stuck there?" Loki asks, bewildered.

Tony looks panicked. "You can't have it back. It's mine now." His body disappears and he reappears back in the tree in the same position, breathing harsher than before. He's clearly in a lot of pain.

"Why didn't you try taking it out?" Loki asks after a moment.

Tony's pained eyes look at him miserably. "It's cursed and I can't take it out."

Loki waits a beat and replies, "Let me see."

"What do you care?" Tony snaps. His frustration finally spills over and he looks ready to cry. It must really hurt. "I'm going to die either way. Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Loki stares at him. Is this really the same angel he had encountered just a few days ago? That angel was bloodthirsty and would have done anything to kill Loki. But the angel now in front of him is pathetic. "Please, show me."

Tony looks away in defeat and finally lets the glamour down, revealing both his wings. On his right side is a perfect white wing, standing at attention. In comparison, his wing is limp and lies against his side, completely black. The hilt of the blade sticks out from the middle of the wing.

"I can pull that out for you," Loki says. For some reason, he just can't let this angel suffer any longer. If it's going to die from a knife wound, then Loki prefers that it dies peacefully. "Or I could kill you now and put you out of your misery."

"Oh, what a great comfort," Tony says, curling deeper against his knees. "Only seventeen and I'm going to die. I'll probably die as the youngest angel in history. You know that angels are supposed to live a full life of a thousand years?"

Loki gapes at him. "You… what?"

"Figures. Humans have long forgotten the history of angels. Now if you excuse me, I would like to die without your help, thank you."

"Are you really going to die?" Loki asks finally.

"Yes," Tony says without hesitation. "If not from this wound, then by you, and if not from you, then from my father. I am a waste of existence."

"You are a miserable thing, aren't you?" Loki asks flatly. He is growing quite tired of the angel's complaints.

Tony glares at him. "And you are a heartless, ugly thing."

Loki's stomach drops and he immediately touches his hand to his ugly scar. "Shut up." Loki drops his hand and sets the candle holder onto the dirt and turns back to the angel. He immediately heaves himself back onto the branch with the angel again.

He looks at Loki, startled. "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you." He goes to yank the knife from the angel's wing, but the angel whisks his wings away, hiding them away from human contact.

"Don't touch me," Tony warns.

Loki huffs. "Then tell me of a way to help you."

Tony pauses, looking at Loki strangely. He's probably feeling what Loki is feeling right now: extraordinarily confused. Humans do not help angels and angels do not help humans. They hunt each other. That is why Loki and Tony stare at each other, both equally baffled by Loki's offer.

"You could bring me something to eat?" Tony finally says. He looks so amazed by Loki that Loki looks away and pushes himself from the branch. He lands effortlessly.

"I didn't know angels eat."

"They don't," Tony says, stilling staring at Loki with wide eyes. "But sometimes they like to try new things before they die."

Loki picks up his candle, grasping it tightly. "I'll be back again tomorrow night."

Tony nods. "You are a strange one, Loki."

"I know," Loki replies.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Loki is up before Thor and he takes very little time to get ready. By the time Thor comes to his room to wake him up, Loki's already walking down the stairs, heading for the front door. "Hey, Thor," Loki greets absent-mindedly. His mind's currently occupied with the task of how he will steal extra food at the food hall today. They portion everything out pretty sparingly in their little village. Loki can't blame them, though. They would starve if they didn't keep rationing.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Thor asks, catching his arm and forcing him to a halt.

"Uh, to do my chores?" Loki's plan is to get his share of the clothes-washing done quickly so that he can slip into the food hall much earlier today.

Thor looks at him incredulously. "Okay, Loki, what's going on?"

Loki's breath catches. "Nothing's _going on_. Just… enjoying the morning."

His brother narrows his eyes in response. "You can't lie to me," he sighs and drops Loki's arm. "Whatever it is, make sure that no one finds out, okay? I have enough to worry about already." Thor's right. Thor is currently participating in midnight angel hunts, babysitting kids by day, and helping out in the kitchens in the evening. Sometimes Loki wonders how he even finds time to sleep.

He smiles warmly at Thor, sincerely grateful to have a brother like him. "Thanks," he says. "You're the best!"

Thor groans, pressing the heels of his hands into his tired eyes. "You drive me nuts sometimes. Just go before I get even more worried." He pulls his hands away just a little to glare at Loki.

In response, Loki waves to him with a big grin. "Well I better get out of your hair then. See you later!"

Thor says nothing in reply but Loki can feel his brother's eyes on him all the way out the door.

* * *

A pile of clothes can be cleaned surprisingly quick, Loki realizes, when he actually focuses on doing a good but efficient job. Even the ladies have nothing to complain about him today.

What does suck, though, is that Loki does get a good cut on the inside of his hand from scrubbing too hard. But that's kind of common with the rough, potent home-made soap that they had to use on their washing. Loki just rubs the blood off on the edge of his pants and wraps a strip of cloth around his small wound.

Because of his hard work, he is rewarded with leaving his chores early. Usually Loki likes to drag his way to the food hall. There's a lot of people he doesn't care for there and they are just as indifferent about him. So he usually likes to wait till he can go to first meal with Thor. That way he has at least one person to sit with…

However, today Loki has a mission and he walks with long strides towards the little public hall that smells deliciously of warm bread. Inside, the large room is already filling with people but lucky for Loki, it's still relatively quiet.

Keeping his head down, Loki makes his way into the line. He grabs his tray and stands obediently behind the few people in front of him.

Today's meal consists of a single roll, fresh green beans, and a boiled potato. Each is being dished out by someone on kitchen duty and Loki wonders how he will get anything extra… That is, until he sees Sif serving up the rolls.

When it gets to his turn, Loki leans into her and asks quietly, "Sif, can you give me an extra roll?"

"No," she says flatly. "Why would you even need an extra one? You eat like a bird."

Crap. "Uh, it's for Thor."

"Well, don't bother. He's already here," she says, gesturing to a table with her tongs.

Loki frowns. Of course today is the day that Thor chooses to come to the food hall before him. Loki turns back to her. "Whatever. Just give me mine then."

After Loki's all dished up, he sits down at a table by himself, taking some time to stare at his food contemplatively. Which of this should he bring to Tony? Of all the days, today has to be the most boring day for food, judging by the state of his plate. Sometimes the kitchen attendants come up with some great stuff with just using ingredients from their village garden and from the rare canned goods that were left over from before the angels.

Loki's hungry… and there's only two meals a day. Perhaps he can save Tony the roll and Loki can just eat the beans and the small potato. He is sure he can hold out until dinner to eat again.

He starts to wrap the roll into a cloth he had swiped from the laundry when Thor shows up next to him. "What are you doing?"

Freezing for a second, Loki considers his words carefully. "Just saving some food for later."

Thor scoots onto the bench next to him, invading his space. "You should really just eat it. You're so lanky and small. Some meat needs to grow on these bones." He squeezes Loki's arms affectionately.

Loki ignores him, finishing wrapping the roll and pocketing it into his sweatshirt. "I'm just not hungry right now," he says, shoving a forkful of beans into his mouth.

Thor laughs but dropped the subject. "What are you doing the rest of your day?"

_Oh, just nothing until I get to a visit an angel after dinner… _"I don't know," he says with a shrug.

"Well, what do you say about a fight?"

Excitement immediately lights up in Loki's fiery eyes at the prospect. "I accept."

* * *

Loki sets his sweatshirt, which contains the precious roll inside, on the sidelines for safe-keeping with his other items. With his dagger in hand, Loki turns to grin viciously at his brother. Today he will beat Thor once and for all.

Spinning the blade expertly in his hands, Loki circles to look at the small crowd that's forming around them. Sif and several of Thor's other friends are gathered on one side and there are many other young Hunters congregating. They like to wager on Thor and him. Of course most bet in the favor of the all-mighty Thor.

"You ready?" Thor calls boisterously from his side of the dirt ring. He stretches his arms to show off his muscles to the girls. They love to watch these types of fights, since some of the guys, like Thor, like to go shirtless. Thor didn't like to get cuts and holes in his clothes.

"As I'll ever be," Loki says, raising his dagger at the ready.

"Then on the count of three," Thor starts.

Loki's grin grows. "Three."

"Two," Thor counters with a smile of his own.

"One!" Loki throws himself forward, going for the offense, stabbing his blade right for Thor's shoulder.

Thor counters, meeting his blade with his own with a loud clank. Loki jumps away, sliding across the dry dirt. Thor comes at him this time, running towards Loki's left side. Spinning, Loki avoids Thor's large, towering body and he ducks until Thor's arm, going to stab Thor in the back.

He manages to clip Thor with blade, feeling a little bad when it draws blood from the shallow cut. But the damage is done. The little distraction of the blood had left an opening for Thor and although he doesn't get his blade at Loki, he still manages to smash Loki with a heavy-handed punch to the gut.

The wind is knocked from Loki's lungs. It's hard to breathe and his vision is blurry but Loki still succeeds in kicking out his leg and he sends Thor down hard. A cloud of dust puffs up as Thor hits the earth.

Loki uses this time to catch his breath but he doesn't hesitate too long, because Thor is already rising up, roaring. "You're getting it now, Loki!"

"Not likely!" Loki says, throwing himself at Thor.

Instantly their blades meet and this time neither of them back down. They push the blades against each other, grinding out a steely screech of metal. This could be bad. If either of them slip, they could get a nasty gash in the hand. Loki grits his teeth, pushing harder.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, it's as if both knives are ripped from their grasp and flung to the ground, hurtling out of the circle. The crowd whoops, not noticing anything out of the ordinary, but Thor and Loki freeze, staring at each other. That didn't happen just naturally.

Instinctively, Loki snaps his eyes towards the trees. He just catches a brief glimpse of a black wing disappearing into the trees. Was that… Tony?

He looks back at Thor and cakes on a sheepish smile. "Well that was weird."

Thor is looking at him funny but it's an expression Loki can't read. "Yeah… I guess it's a draw." He says no more but Loki can feel that Thor knows what actually happened. Loki certainly can predict that there will be a serious talk about this later.

Fandral, another of Thor's friends, claps the two on the back and shouts, "We have a draw!"

The crowd cheers.

* * *

It's finally time. Odin and Thor are at a Hunter's meeting and then they're off to a hunt. The village is quiet and it's easy to slip away. Loki takes his usual route out to the woods, bringing the same supplies in his backpack as he did the night before, but he does have a strange sense of nervousness. It's not only because it feels weird to purposely seeking out an angel for company, but he's also kind of afraid that Tony will be in a worse condition than last night.

"Tony?" Loki whispers as he comes to the clearing that they had met in last night.

At first there is no reply. Loki knows better, however, and he lights a candle. He almost jumps out of his skin. Tony is sitting on a branch directly above him, glaring heavily down at him. This is the side of angels that scares the shit of him. He shrinks back a step.

"You came back," Tony says and he actually has the nerve to sound angry about it.

"Yeah, jerk. I had to bring you that food, didn't I?"

Tony's glare seems to waver but then he crosses his arms angrily, turning away. "I don't want it." The movement reveals the black diseased wing. It looks the same as yesterday and the blade is still wedged into his feathers.

Loki tears his eyes away and goes to his pack, pulling out the bread. "Are you sure you don't want to try this? You know, before you die?" He unwraps the bread carefully, moving it into Tony's view.

He almost wants to laugh at the way that Tony steals a curious glance at Loki's offering. "What is that?" Tony asks. His voice if filled with childish wonder and suddenly Loki feels uncomfortable.

"Well, it's just bread. I could have gotten something better… Maybe I should have snuck into the kitchen and gotten you-"

He cuts off when Tony appears right in front of him. He reaches out for the bread but stops short. "Can I have some?"

Loki gulps. This angel looks so amazed by something simple. It sends a strange tingle into his chest. "Have all of it."

Tony snatches it from his hand and he starts to inspect it like it is something spectacular. "What did you call this again? Bread?"

Loki nods, frowning. "Just bread."

"So its name is 'just bread?' Fascinating. What is its taste?" Loki doesn't have time to answer because Tony turns the bread in his hands and continues, "I guess I'll just have to try it, huh?" Tony takes a large bite of the hard roll and Loki waits. It's definitely one of the least tasty things on Loki's list and he just waits for Tony's disgust.

It never comes because Tony's face, despite of the sickly appearance, lights up with delight. "This 'just bread' is good! Really good!"

Loki gapes. He isn't sure how he should react. In fact, he's shocked because a dim but golden glow rises from Tony's one good wing. It's… mesmerizing. "Wow," Loki whispers.

Tony freezes mid-bite when he notices what Loki's looking at it. The light goes out immediately and Tony disappears up back into the tree. He tucks his good wing firmly behind him and picks absently at the rest of the roll. "You can go now, you know."

"What?" Loki blinks back his confusion. He just got here and Tony already wants him to go?

"You have no obligations to me. I don't even know why you came back. Unless you are waiting for me to die, which in that case, you're going to have to wait a while. I seriously am taking a long time to die." Even as he says it, Tony looks extremely exhausted and tired.

"Your wing just glowed," Loki finds himself saying. "Angels don't do that…"

"There you go making more assumptions," Tony says, popping another piece of the roll into his mouth.

"It's just… It's just weird," Loki says. He sits down in the grass next to his pack and the candle. He feels almost lied to. His whole life he had this single image of angels and within two separate nights, Tony had changed his image completely. It's frightening.

A brief silence settles between them, but only for a moment. Loki finally looks up at Tony and finds him already watching Loki, finishing off the roll. "Did you do something to my fight with Thor today?"

Tony's wings flare behind him and he goes stiff. _Curious._ Loki wonders if there was a correlation between Tony's wings and his discomfort. "No, I wouldn't do something like that," Tony says, looking away.

"You did!" Loki exclaims. "Why would you do that?"

"You were being stupid," Tony snaps, his glare now on Loki. "You creatures insist on being violent and I just don't understand it! Fighting with each other for no reason. As if you needed to cut at each other like that. You already hurt your hand on soap. On soap! You humans are so weak." His tones finishes in utter disgust.

Loki touches his fingers to his wrapped hand, surprised. "How did you know that?"

Tony goes still again. His eyes widen in shock.

Frowning, Loki tilts his head. "Have you been watching me?"

Tony disappears and doesn't reappear anywhere in sight this time. Loki flashes to his feet, spinning in a full circle, searching. "Tony?"

A second later, Loki spots his silhouette farther up in the tree he was already in but Loki can't make anything else out besides the outline of his wings. "Tony?" No reply. "What are you doing up there? Can you come down?"

"Thanks for the 'just bread' and all…" Tony says so quietly that Loki almost misses it. "But you shouldn't come back here anymore."

Loki strangely feels breathless and he really wants to give Tony a good punch. "Come on, don't be like that! I'll bring you more food. And I can—"

"No, just leave. It's too dangerous for you to be out here."

Loki huffs, grimacing at the shadow. He's speechless, really, not knowing how to respond to this sudden dismissal. He glares at the shadow until it disappears and Tony's suddenly standing in front of him again, causing Loki to jump in surprise.

Tony sighs. "Here, just let me…" he trails off, grabbing Loki by the wrist and forcing his injured hand in front of Tony. In a single swipe of his hand, Tony unravels the make-shift bandage and reveals the crusty little cut underneath. "You need to take care of yourself more," Tony says as if it physically pains him.

With a light hand, he trails his fingers along the length of Loki's wound and, behind his soft touch, the wound magically stitches itself back together flawlessly. Loki gasps, staring at his hand even after Tony lets go. There is still a fiery warmth from where Tony had touched his palm.

"You can heal any wound?" Loki asks. Tony nods shortly. "Then you can heal this scar." He gestures to the hideous raised scar across the center of his ugly face.

"I could, but I won't," Tony says. Loki's heart starts to sink. "Because it's part of who you are."

Then Tony's gone. Loki inhales sharply and again looks around the clearing with wild eyes. What did Tony just say? About his scar? Why?! This ugly would never be a part of Loki! It was a curse, a poison… "Bastard!"

In that moment, Loki never felt uglier.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Loki doesn't want to get out of bed and he doesn't know why. Well, he knows why, but he doesn't want to admit it to himself. Tony left last night and now Loki isn't sure if he's coming back or if he intends on seeing him. It gives him this weird breathless feeling that twinges almost painfully.

He sighs to himself and scrapes his fingernails across the bed, pressing his face further into his pillow. Maybe there's a way to skip chores and he can go sulk to himself somewhere in his bitterness.

The light of the new day filters happily through his window and he wishes he had closed his ratty curtains before sleeping. Then he wouldn't be awake and he wouldn't be thinking about _Tony._

There's a knock at the door and Loki groans, knowing it's Thor. "No, it's too early."

Thor pushes inside anyway. Usually this would be the point that Thor would say something optimistic and perky and proceed to pull Loki from the sheets. Today he just stands there.

Loki notices the quiet right away and he looks up, wondering what Thor's waiting for. When he sees his brother's expression, it's obvious. Thor _knows. _Or at least, he suspects. Slowly, Loki sits up to look at his brother clearly. "Thor…" he starts but he stops, not knowing what to say.

"Something's going on," Thor says simply, crossing his arms.

A sense of mild terror settles over Loki as he looks at his brother. What if he tells father? What if he hates Loki for purposely seeking out the company of an angel after one had brutally murdered their mother so many years ago? He can still hear Thor's sobs from that day.

Loki looks away nervously but decides to be straight with Thor. So he stands to meet Thor in height. "Ask me whatever you are going to ask, Thor. I know you're going to."

Thor doesn't even blink. "What are you doing, Loki?" He sounds disappointed and that's what causes Loki to flinch.

"Thor," he sighs, not really sure how he should explain himself.

Before he can say more, Thor tugs Loki into a bone-crushing hug, holding on as if for dear life. "Loki… Why are you always like this?" He pulls back to look at his brother. "You're meeting an angel, aren't you?"

Loki's face flickers with several emotions, giving him away immediately. "Well, not anymore technically."

Thor doesn't comment on that but he continues, "Look, you are putting yourself in extreme danger and you know I can't protect you when you are out there when I don't know! I would at least feel better if you told me when you are going out there. So if anything happens to you I can…" he trails off.

Thor's eyes are watery, like he will actually cry, and Loki immediately throws out his splayed fingers, saying, "No, seriously Thor! I am not seeing him anymore! You don't have to worry!"

"Will you at least promise me that you will come to me if you go into the forest again?"

"Of course," Loki says automatically. "Thor, I promise, okay?"

A weak smile appears on Thor's lips and he grabs Loki into another hug. "I just don't want to lose you too, ya know?" Thor says softly.

"Yeah," Loki whispers, finally relaxing into the embrace. "Me too."

* * *

Loki swishes the clothes through the river slowly, feeling morose. Even after his heartfelt one-on-one with Thor today, he still feels empty.

Without even meaning to, he glances out at the forest beyond the fence. The trees are still under today's unbearable heat. No, Tony's not watching him today. Loki's sure of it.

With heart sinking, Loki tiredly wipes the sweat from his forehead. He glances over at the other laundry girls and finds them a few feet away, chattering excitedly. They aren't working on any clothes, but Loki can see why. The clothes are piling up by Loki.

Loki works faster for a few minutes, successfully moving through half of the pile, and that's when he hears the faintest scream in the distance. He stops his scrubbing, glancing up with narrowed eyes. Was that just his imagination? The girls around him are still gossiping, not showing indication of hearing the same thing.

It couldn't have been in his head, though. It had been too real, too gruesome. Slowly he stands with the wet shirt still dripping in his hand, and turns to stare at the hill above them. Everyone up there is working as usual too.

"I'm going crazy," he whispers to himself. That doesn't explain the feeling, though; the strange tingle that's crawling up his spine, making his chest feel heavy.

He stares for a second more.

Suddenly a loud scream pierces the air, drawing out for what felt like an eternity. Loki drops his cloth, whipping his head to look at the girls. They all freeze, bewildered.

Loki spins on his heel and runs, heading in the direction of the scream, but as soon as he hits the halfway point of the hill, he's met by a crowd of people running opposite of him and they are _terrified._ A random man rushes past him, yanking on Loki's arm, forcing him back down the hill. "Run, boy! The angels!"

"Angels?" Loki gasps, throwing a glance behind them.

Above them on the top of the nearest house, an angel with pure white wings appears. His gaze is piercing, flicking across the crowd, stunning them with his cool charcoal eyes. He looks absolutely evil.

His eyes sift through the crowd until they pass over Loki… but he doesn't look away. His gaze is now fixed on Loki.

Loki's heart thuds and he inhales sharply, taking a step back. This angel is coming for him, he's sure of it. With a single second, Loki rips his arm from the man's grasp and runs. He had to get to Thor or Odin or…

His chest jolts. _Thor!_ He had to make sure he was okay, he had to—.

The angel appears in front of Loki, grinning cruelly. "At last," the man drawls. "Finally we find the little pest."

Breathing heavily, Loki rips a blessed knife out of his waistband and holds it up, shaking. "Get back," Loki growls.

The angel tuts at him. "You are truly a pathetic little beast."

Loki doesn't care what the bastard has to say to him, he just throws the knife at the winged monster and runs. Behind him, the angel bursts into a blood-curdling scream, sending a grin to Loki's face. Yes! He got the thing.

With legs burning, Loki makes it up the hill to Thor's usual place with the children but no one stands in the clearing. Of course he must've taken the children to cover. "Thor!" Loki hollers out, using all of the air in his lungs. He spins rapidly, afraid that an angel would find him. But he had to find Thor! "THOR!"

Someone grabs him from behind and claps a hand over Loki's mouth, stifling his inevitable scream. "Are you an idiot?!" The attacker yells at him, yanking him behind a house.

Loki's spins and comes face-to-face with none other than Tony. "Tony!" he says, baffled.

"Come on," Tony says, reaching his hand out to Loki. "I have to get you out of here!"

Just then Loki becomes consumed with rage. "Did you know about this?" he asks nastily.

Tony frowns at him, his injured black wing twitching around the knife. "Are you stupid? Haven't you seen me camping out in the woods for the last few days?"

"But I don't know anything about you. You could have just been—"

"Loki!" Tony yells at him. "We don't have any damn time for your stupidity! Do you not realize that they are after you right now?"

"_Me?_"

"Yes," Tony hisses, glancing nervously up into the skies. "Now let's go." He grabs Loki and instantly they are ripped through a whirlwind of color and they reappear near Loki's house. Loki instantly feels sick and Tony doesn't look much better. In fact, Tony stumbles just a little and then forces himself upright with sweat sheening across his hairline. Tony gasps in exasperation. "Fucking knife," Tony curses, glancing at Loki's blade in his wing. He turns back to Loki. "Let me try again."

"No," Loki says, dancing out of Tony's grasp. "You are going to kill yourself this way. Besides, I need to find my family." In the distance there are more yells and the sound of gunshots. "Come on!"

Loki takes off without checking to see if Tony is following and heads towards the crowds. When he reaches the clearing, there are four angels all flickering in and out of view attacking the villagers. In turn, the Hunters are shooting, slashing, and stabbing at the angels. Anything to keep them away from the innocents. "We have to help them!" Loki yells, eyes widening as he spots his father amongst the fray, shooting expertly, taking one angel down.

Loki spins to check for Tony but he's frozen a few feet away with eyes just as wide as Loki's. "We can't be here," he says, backing away. His gaze flickers to Loki, full of fear.

"Tony," Loki pleads.

A sharp laugh sounds suddenly behind Loki and he jumps, scrambling backwards near Tony. There stands a taller angel and his resemblance to Tony is striking, almost as if…

"Howard," Tony acknowledges lowly. Loki realizes this must be Tony's father… if such a thing is possible with angels.

"Anthony," he chuckles in reply. "I see you are keeping the beast as a pet. Or rather… are you his? I heard he calls you Tony, like a human."

Tony steps in front of Loki, glaring. "Stay away from him. He's mine to kill, remember?"

Howard gives Tony a sad pitiful glance. "Well, you certainly aren't doing a good job." He gestures to the knife in Tony's wing. "You're crippled and no longer of use to us."

Tony's visibly shaking and Loki realizes that he has to do something. Anything! Loki slowly takes out his blessed knife from his boot. Howard's eyes snap to Loki instantly. "Don't even try it. You will lose sorely."

"I don't think so," Loki growls and he lunges, aiming his knife for Howard's heart.

"Loki, no!" Tony yells. He intercepts immediately and Loki is swept into a burst of color, reappearing in Tony's arms on the opposite side of the battle. Loki glances over at Tony's weak, panting face and then across the clearing to where Howard is watching them darkly.

Tony grabs Loki's shirt weakly. "Look, you need to get out here. Find a holy place." Tony's eyes flicker over to his father and he lets go of Loki's shirt. "Go now!"

Just then Howard appears before Tony and Loki scrabbles backward, gripping his knife like a life line. It's the only thing he has left.

Tony steps forward to block Howard from him. "You will have to go through me, father."

Howard's lips twist into a strange smile. "You've gone rogue, Anthony. You know what the punishment is for that."

Tony cries out and throws a glowing hand into Howard's face, blasting him with a burst of light. Whatever it is must burn because Howard howls and disappears instantly from sight.

Rounding on Loki, Tony's light fades and he looks completely exhausted. "That will only keep him away for a few moments. You have to go!"

Loki opens his mouth to speak. He wants to say something, to tell Tony how grateful and how sorry he is. But it's too late. Suddenly Odin appears besides Loki and aims his gun at Tony. "No!" Loki screams, knocking Odin's gun aside just as it goes off. Even so, Tony flickers from sight, reappearing a few feet away, panting. "He's helping me," he yells at Odin, still hanging on him.

Odin looks down at Loki incredulously. "These pieces of shit already killed ten people. They all deserve to die!"

Howard reappears then and Odin instantly takes a shot at him, missing sorely. Howard sweeps by in a flash and for a second, Loki thinks he's coming for him, but surprisingly he goes to Tony. "Come on traitor," he says, grabbing Tony by the neck. A bright red light fills the clearing, blinding everyone. Odin doesn't cease though, shooting sightlessly into the brightness.

Loki squeezes his eyes shut as the light builds even more and claps his hands over his ears as a high-pitched ringing pierces his ears. And then it's gone, leaving only the ringing shots of Odin's continuous firing.

"Dad, stop!" Loki shouts, grabbing his arm. "They're gone!"

Odin stops but he shoves Loki, sending Loki into the dirt with a thump. "You should have let me kill it!"

"He's my friend," Loki hisses. "He saved me."

"They took Thor!"

Loki freezes, hands curling into the dirt. "What?"

"Thor. He's gone. I don't know what they wanted with him, but he's the only one they took alive." Odin busies himself with reloading his ammo. "And now we have no way of getting to him…" He snaps the gun back into place. "He's gone."

"No," Loki breathes, shaking his head. "No."

"Yes," Odin says, looking down at him, grief-stricken. Then he hands Loki his gun. "But now we hunt them."

* * *

**Hi! So I went to South Korea and now I'm back! That's why I have been so bad at keeping up with updates: all of the planning and traveling and whatnot. Also I've had a bit of a dose of laziness this year. So please keep bugging me to update. I will update much quicker with your requests.**


End file.
